This invention relates to stringed instruments and particularly to picks therefor as used by guitarists and the like. The musician chooses a pick according to the strings used on the instrument and according to his style and technique of playing. Accordingly, conventional picks for stringed instruments are made in various thicknesses and of different materials such as wood, bone, stone, plastic and metals. The state of the art has preferred plastic picks, as they simulate finger plucking and are compatible with the softer instrument strings of gut. However, metal picks used with metal strings and heretofore made of steel and especially stainless-steels have not been altogether satisfactory, as they lack the necessary degree of resilience; and plastic picks also lack instant memory required for accurate plucking. Therefore, and in lieu of a mere substitution of material, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a musical instrument pick of a commercially available material having optimum physical properties as related to thickness and resilience for increased accuracy in plucking.
Plucking accuracy can be greatly increased when the instrumentalist knows exactly where the picking edge is. Discrepancy in picking edge position occurs with ordinary prior art picks made of materials which do not have an instant memory, since they allow a substantial time lag before straightening to their original condition. In some instances the lag is thirty seconds or more; and in some instances straightening is precluded by a permanent deformation. It is to be understood that the force applied to picks in plucking the instrument strings is very often most severe with the picking edge deflected 0.25 inch, more or less. Since the time interval between plucked notes is most often and consistantly a fraction of a second, a permanently or temporarily displaced positioning of the picking edge is most detrimental to instrumental execution and therefore timing and playing accuracy is adversely affected. Heretofore, inability of the performing musician to predict precise positioning of the picking edge has had an adverse affect on his performance, and all of which is aggravated by upward and downward plucking, and by switching between multiple upward and downward plucking. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a pick which deviates the least from its original planar condition after deflection, and a pick which has an instant and substantially complete memory for this purpose. In carrying out this invention, Beryllium Copper (Be-Cu) alloy is used, an alloy that contains greater than one percent Beryllium and characterized by its high strength, hardness and resilience. The pick as it is disclosed herein is essentially a corrosion resistant spring having instant and substantially complete memory.
The range of thickness of prior art stringed instrument picks and that of plastic picks which are most widely used is 0.017 inch to 0.032 inch. By comparison, the range of thickness of the picks of the present invention is 0.005 inch to 0.010 inch. Whereas the prior art picks have been supplied in "THIN", "MEDIUM" and "HEAVY" thicknesses, the pick of the present invention is supplied in incremental thicknesses separated by 0.001 inch respectively. The planar configuration of the instant pick remains conventional according to acceptable standards, and the selected thickness provides the required spring and/or degree of resiliency desired. A feature is the compatability of Beryllium Copper brought into frictional contact with metal instrument strings, and particularly against the Nickle-Steel wrappings of guitar strings; wear being minimized thereby.